Pranked nurse dies

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A nurse who fell victim to a prank telephone call seeking information about the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy has died, a hospital said Friday. Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found dead early Friday at apartments affiliated with King Edward VII hospital in central London, where she worked for four years. The death is being treated as unexplained, but police did not find anything suspicious.

2DayFM, the Australian station that performed the prank early Tuesday, said in a statement posted on Facebook and Twitter that two disc jockeys, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, would not return to the station until further notice. They had apologized for the hoax Wednesday.

Saldanha took the hoax call by the pair, who impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to elicit information on the duchess, the hospital said. Saldanha later transferred the call to the nurse caring for the duchess, who was admitted to the hospital Monday with acute morning sickness.

St. James’s Palace, the office of the duchess and her husband, Prince William, also expressed sadness at the death, but insisted that it had not complained about the hoax.
(AP)

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